cancelled

Sorry, 'Legend of the Seeker' fans. The syndicated fantasy show couldn't cast a spell over enough viewers to earn a third season, as the Ausiello Files is reporting that Sam Raimi's swashbuckling series has been canceled.

'Seeker' was having a tough time pulling in decent numbers for local stations associated with its distributor, Tribune Stations Group. Apparently, not even a steamy girl-on-girl kiss between 'Buffy' alum Charisma Carpenter and hottie Tabrett Bethell could generate enough interest to keep the show alive. A number of Tribune stations dropped 'Seeker' last month, and the networks have shown no interest in picking it up, leading to its cancellation.

Now is not a great time for action-oriented cult TV shows. With 'Seeker' on the chopping block and last year's cancellation of 'Stargate Atlantis,' it seems like the tube is being scrubbed clean of light, fun, geek-friendly series. It's definitely not the '90s anymore, when shows like Raimi and Robert Tapert's 'Hercules' and 'Xena' could go for six seasons. Let's hope one of the better action-packed shows to debut this year, Fox's 'Human Target,' can beat the current trend.

'Michael and Michael Have Issues,' the behind the scenes sketch comedy fest from 'State' alumni Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter was one of the funniest "no surprise" shows in Comedy Central's line-up in a long time.

Showalter sent out the awful truth in Twitter form yesterday. Black also followed up Showalter's sad announcement with his own Tweet that contains a certain word that starts with "F" and ends with "K" and it isn't "fullback."

I was a fan and I looked forward to the second season, but now I'll just have to settle with the inevitable buck squeezing DVD release. You guys had me at "bunny stomping."

Which of your favorite network shows are likely to survive another season, and which are doomed? Valentine's Day seems as good a time as any to see which primetime shows are still getting some network love, which may be why the weekend provided us with three detailed breakdowns -- from Entertainment Weekly, The Wrap and The Hollywood Reporter -- of the cancellation odds for every network's primetime lineup.

Predicting which of the shows currently on the bubble are going to be spared the ax is hardly an exact science, yet what's interesting about these three lists of survival odds is how nearly unanimous they are. For instance, all three seem to think that 'Smallville''s move to TV's Friday night boneyard has all but ensured the show's survival, and that the CW is all but certain to keep the series, even though the nine-year-old show is the oldest thing on the youth-obsessed network. Conversely, everyone thinks the same network's 'Melrose Place' is doomed. Read on to see where your favorite series placed on the various bubble lists.

Rex was originally going to fill one of the 10 P.M. slots vacated by Jay Leno. It had a strong supporting cast with Jerry O'Connell, Jane Curtin and Jeffrey Tambor. It sounded like a winner, so naturally NBC didn't want it. Still, this isn't the only bad decision NBC has made recently and it probably won't be the last.

This is especially heartbreaking news as people (like myself) will not have the opportunity to introduce David Tennant to their friends that aren't Doctor Who fans. The show might be picked up for the fall, so don't give up hope yet. Feel free to post vitriolic tirades against NBC in the comments.

It's NBC day at the TCAs and the juicy NBC executive session is up. Jeff Gaspin, Chairman of NBCU's TV division confirmed that starting February 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer be on at 10 PM ET. The hope is to have Leno at 11:35, Conan's Tonight Show at 12:05, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 1:05.

However, they're still in discussions with the hosts about this. Gaspin hopes to get the situation settled by the start of the Olympics.

Howdy from Pasadena! I'm here covering the Winter TCA tour, and the first bit of news has already come up. During her executive session, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler was asked by the throng of reporters here if the Alex O'Loughlin medical drama Three Rivers was cancelled. Her response?

"You know what? Yes."

She went on to say that she didn't want to beat around the bush on it; the show just took longer to develop than they hoped. She was heartened by the stories she heard from transplant patients who appreciated the show's message, but that wasn't enough to save the show.

In the reporter scrum after her press conference, Tassler told me that she didn't anticipate as many angry letters from O'Loughlin fans as she got after she cancelled Moonlight, but judging from some of the notes we got here, I doubt that.

Sort of lost in the shuffle of the pre-Christmas news was this item. MSNBC has cancelled the Dr. Nancy show. What? You didn't even know there was a Dr. Nancy show starring NBC medical/health expert Dr. Nancy Snyderman? Don't worry. Most people weren't either. MSNBC plopped Dr. Nancy at 12 noon on June 29 and then did next to nothing to promote the show.

Even if MSNBC had done some publicity, it may not have helped. MSNBC daytime is a major problem for the network. They've been juggling and re-juggling the personalities, but nothing has worked. So while Dylan Ratigan is getting another slot on the channel, Dr. Nancy will return to her work as NBC's chief medical editor doing the NBC News and Today.

MTV's first and last foray into the daytime talk show market has come to an abrupt halt.

Alex Chung, the British model turn talk show host, has lost her daytime talk show It's On with Alexa Chung on MTV after just two seasons. The network announced that the show would not return following its final show on Dec. 17.

I never watched the show and judging from its style and substance, I don't seem to be the demographic for it so I'm wary of criticizing or critiquing exactly what MTV has lost here. For those of who have seen it, did MTV lose something special? It seems to me that this is just a result of the slow eradication of daytime talk shows from small players like the Chung-fest and power forwards like Oprah "The Refrigerator" Winfrey.

Just when I'd added Southland to my list of shows to spotlight in upcoming editions of "Gone Too Soon," now there are glimmers of hope for its future. After NBC unceremoniously dumped it before it premiered this season, in favor of more Dateline, fans and television pundits were stunned.

Executive producer John Wells has reportedly been in contact with the cast to tell them he has at least two cable networks interested in picking up Southland. The good news comes in two ways. One, the series gets to come back. And two, a cable network is a lot less likely to tamper with the storytelling style Southland was developing in its first season. NBC already had them de-emphasizing the larger cast and the serialized nature of their storytelling in the episodes they were filming for the new season.

It's not really possible that every summer premiere on the great American broadcast TV schedule crashed and burned, is it?

But, out of all the original programs that premiered on the major networks after the completion of the fall 2008 season, not a single one got traction.

According to analysis reports, you can take your pick from any of the following shows: Defying Gravity, The Superstars, The Listener, Mental, The Philanthropist, Hitched or Ditched, Merlin and Great American Road Trip. All of them bombed -- each hovering just above a one market share.

CW is cancelling four of its series -- two dramas and two comedies, says Variety.

One of the biggest shows to get the ax is 'Privileged,' which aired on Tuesdays after the popular '90210' reboot. 'Privileged' remained on the 2009 bubble in true roller-coaster fashion, with earlier rumors of a midseason pick-up. There were even reports that the network would re-air the show's first season in the summer.

However, today's cancellation ends all talk -- a decision that series creator Rina Mimoun called "truly heartbreaking," according to the Ausiello Files.

Also getting the boot from the CW is 'Reaper.' 'Reaper' was in a similar position last year as one of the network's bubbled shows, but still managed a 13-episode pick-up for midseason. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for next season's lineup.

On the heels of yesterday's cancellation of 'The Unit,' CBS is now saying goodbye to 'Without a Trace' and 'Eleventh Hour.'

'Eleventh Hour' ran for one season in the network's 10PM slot, which will now be filled by ratings juggernaut 'The Mentalist,' according to Variety.

Meanwhile, the Ausiello Files says 'Without a Trace''s cancellation came down to the wire. 'Trace' battled 'Numb3rs' for the network's final spot, but lost out because 'Numb3rs' is reportedly "less expensive to produce."

The show debuted to impressive ratings in 2005, and went on to win four Emmy awards for its first season, including awards for writing and directing. But despite an additional Emmy for co-star Jaime Pressly in 2006, 'Earl''s ratings deteriorated over time, placing it on the bubble for a good portion of this year.

'Earl' ends after four seasons on NBC.

However, there is a chance 'My Name Is Earl' will go on -- at least on a different network. According to the Hollywood Reporter, ABC and Fox are in talks to bring 'Earl' to their network.

Absent from the network's fall schedule launch this morning (see the full schedule at Variety) were a number of freshman series, including 'Cupid,' 'In the Motherhood' and 'The Unusuals.'

'Motherhood' faced a number of hurdles early on, including poor ratings that subsequently caused the series' episode order to be sliced in half. ABC also tried numerous ways to promote 'The Unusuals' -- even airing it twice a week -- but the show never caught on.

Also getting the boot are 'According to Jim,' which finally ends its eight season run, and the previously announced 'Samantha Who?' 'Samantha' was reportedly cancelled when the show failed to come up with appropriate budget cuts.

The guy in charge of TNT programming, Michael Wright, implied that a drama set in the advertising business was just a little too inaccessible for viewers. And that was the issue; not enough Nielsen numbers.